Tish's Years
by takisys
Summary: At the end of our millennium, as Human race is forced to plan Earth evacuation, the ex-Captain Jack Harkness, on board his small spaceship, is looking for planet to colonize. He will find in no particular order: an old friend, an unexpected son...
1. Chapter 1

**Series' title:** Tish's Years.

**Chapter:** Prologue

**Character, pairing:** Jack Harkness, Tish Jones.

**Fandom:** Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.

**Plot: ** At the end of our millennium, as human race is forced to plan Earth evacuation because of over pollution, the ex-Captain Jack Harkness, former Torchwood Three Director, on board his small spaceship, is looking for planet to colonize. He will find in no particular order: an old friend, an unexpected son, a fabulous starship, a sonic screwdriver and a new reason to go on, and among that some suitable planets for humans to move on.

**Series' rating:** Mostly PG-13 and exceptional NC-17.

**Disclaimer:** Tish, Jack, the Chula ship, the Tardis, the sonic screwdriver, Torchwood, and some others characters motioned here don't belong to me but to RTD and the BBC, all the rest is mine.

**Author's Note:** This series is part of the stories I wrote to bring Ianto back. He's not actually in it though, but as for _Children of the Past,_ it's the building of the world he will come back in. Chronologicly speaking this series is set between _Jack's and Ianto's Private Archives_ and _Children of the Past_.

**Beta: **tempusdominus10

...

The Valiant. The Year That Never Was. It was a year best left to memory, a year of suffering, humiliations, despair; a year of resistance lost in an ocean of tears…

He woke with a start. To think he'd finally been asleep, for once. That Year had happened so long ago. Why was he dreaming of it now, when he hadn't thought of it in ages?

His compact little bug of a ship had been in orbit for some time now. There was no sign of life down planetside. Most would have marked the place a small, boring round rock, stamped it good for terraforming and moved on to the next one. But his tiny transport was agile, able to keep to sheer cliffs, to dodge flying rocks and the like. A dive beneath the atmosphere would hardly test its limits. Besides, he wanted to see. Something told him there was life down there on this generic, boring round rock. Even before meeting the Doctor he'd respected all life deeply; the only shame was when, like the Doctor, he had to destroy it in order to preserve the greater good; threatening malicious harm against the people he loved was never a good move if you wanted to remain living.

Of course, he'd already decided; he would take this opportunity to dive below the atmosphere and skim the hills, to explore the landscape.

The small Chula ship was so fun to drive.

Three hours later he was still playing Skywalker, following a valley that ran through a large chain of mountain. It was swirling around the planet from south to north in a strange pattern, though the whole place was desolate. It was just stone and sand, no vegetation except some lichens, some higher forms of bacteria, perhaps... There had been sentient life here once, but now only well-dusted ruins poked through the rocks; in essence, no one to have a conversation with. No one to get shot by. No one to be remembered.

He was ready to give up when his scanner beeped at him, shouting its little noise. The signal was faint, but there was definitely something biological down there, and according to the readings, it was wandering around the discarded carcass of an old city. Eyes widening, he quickly worked to recalibrate the sensors, hoping to triangulate a teleport point closer to the source of the signal. He couldn't believe it: there was a Human on the surface. In bad shape, of course; there was far too much radioactivity close to the city centre. The objective was clear, now; preferably painless extraction and then informal debrief, if possible. Why was he here, what was he doing and how?

He looked for other energy signs that could explain this unexpected presence. He finely found one; an old friend with sharp claws.Temporal-spatial residual rift activity. Some people got lucky, he thought, remembering the poor wretched souls the rift in Cardiff had once spewed out like it was having an attack of indigestion.

Teleporting in, he materialised in the centre of the ruined town, not too far from the lost wanderer but not too close either, just in case. One never could know what one was getting into, and for all that he'd seen in his life, he figured it was far more likely he was about to run into some son of a bitch. Some megalomaniacs, he reasoned, had all the luck.

As he stared up one side of a distant cliff face, he spotted a thin figure climbing as much as it could among the ruined city. Hard to tell from this far off, but well, the scan had indicated for Human, so... how long had he been out here alone like this? Had there been others? It hadn't been years or months, that much was clear. The area was far too irradiated to have sustained Humans for any length of time. That left it at two or three days, tops.

"Hello!" he called. Of course, it was just meant to be a calling sound than an actual word.

The shape stopped and then turned, slowly, towards him, standing still for a while as if pondering what to do next.

He began to walk unhurriedly toward her. Yes, his mystery Human was looking more and more like a woman, albeit a woman lost in the midst of an alien devastation hot with rads. He didn't want to frighten her further.

As he watched, she stirred once more, like a deer saved from becoming dog food on the hood of a car. In fact, her breaths were evening out. Then it seemed that she made up her mind all at once, for she began staggering toward him like some dislocated puppet, so fragile, so weirdly graceful.

Tall and slim, she wore a tight skirt, a fitted jacket and mid-heels. In her hand was a purse, the string looped twice and wreathed around her wrist. She looked, desperately, like quite the office girl, if from exactly a time and a place he'd wanted to forget.

Soon she was walking properly, looking straight at him, as if she feared he'd vanish once their visual contact was broken. He'd seen it before. That precious eye contact, that promise of companionship from another person was the only thing driving her forward. The only thing keeping hope alight now, her one heart beating.

Now, abruptly she stopped again. He hadn't expected her to, but still, she was there, in front of him. Staring.

Her face was regular, with a thin nose and big dark eyes blinking like pieces of polished jet glinting in light at him. She was probably young and perhaps attractive, but it was difficult to know the way her skin was burned and ripped.

"Jack? Jack, is that you? I can't believe it… Jack, please…"

He was stunned. The man who had once been Jack Harkness was speechless. He'd left the name when he'd left Earth. It had been like dumping extra fuel from your engines in a crunch to gain altitude, on some level. But you didn't feel gut-punched over spilled fuel; the only difference.

His hand-scanner blipped suddenly, picking up on the mobile in her purse; twenty-first century.

Exhausted, the girl let herself slump on a big stone and began to cry.

"I can't… I just can't…" she sobbed.

Jack came to her and crouched.

"It's going to be okay," he managed to say, just as she threw her arms around him and nuzzled into the small of his neck.

"Oh Jack. That's you, that's really you," she rasped with a days-dry throat. Then she collapsed in a faint from relief.

Jack took her in his arms. She was so light he was afraid to break her, he was afraid it would be too late even for the nanogenes. Regardless, with a press of his finger they were both teleported to the Chula ship, laid her on the couch, as he'd done with Rose so many lifetimes ago. After freeing the nanogenes, he sat back in the pilot's seat, eager to watch them do their work.

She had called him Jack and she was coming from the twenty-first century. If there had ever been a part of his life he would wish to forget, it would have been that century... there had been so many losses. Too many losses, too many painful wounds that were never to heal.

He resolved to look into her purse; found a passport and a letter from Torchwood. A letter signed Gwen Cooper Williams. In it, Gwen stated that Torchwood would gladly accept Tish Jones –younger sister of one Martha Jones- into their fold as assistant and archivist.

Tish.

That girl was Tish. His Tish.

She had been his only soothing during that horrible year, his only comfort. They had faced the Master side by side, together, hand in hand, resisting. Hand in hand. During that year, they had forged a very special thread during that year, linking their minds as one. And they had built upon that thread despite the struggle between the two Time Lords, creating a telepathic bond right under the two men's' highly sensitized noses.

The dreams of the Valiant, then, had not been merely dreams. They had led him to Tish. She had called for him.

To be continued.

Authors Note: Yes, I know. You're going to say that the Chula ship had been blown up in the Doctor Dance's episode. Let say it's just Timey-Whiney sort of going to be explain later on.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Tish's Years.

**Chapter 01 :** Harsh Realisation

**Character, pairing:** Jack Harkness, Tish Jones.

**Fandom:** Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.

**Plot: ** At the end of our millennium, as the Human race is forced to plan an evacuation of Earth because of over-pollution, the ex-Captain Jack Harkness, former Torchwood Three Director, is playing middle man, using his small Chulan craft to scout out suitable worlds for colonization. He finds, in no particular order: an old friend, an unexpected son, a fabulous starship, a sonic screwdriver, and a new reason to go on. Oh, and there are some inhabitable planets, too.

**Series' rating:** Mostly PG-13 and exceptional NC-17.

**Disclaimer:** Tish, Jack, the Chula ship, the Tardis, the sonic screwdriver, Torchwood, and some other characters motioned here don't belong to me but to RTD and the BBC, all the rest is mine.

**Author's Note:** This series is part of the stories I wrote to bring Ianto back. He's not actually in it though, but as for _Children of the Past,_ it's the building of the world he will come back in. Chronologicly speaking this series is set between _Jack's and Ianto's Private Archives_ and _Children of the Past_.

**Beta: ****tempusdominus10**

…**.**

Tish woke up in a bed she couldn't recognise. Her environment looked as an unnatural crossing between a Jules Verne designed cockpit and the inside of a futuristic submarine, all of which could have fit in her London room!

On top of that she was completely naked under the sheet with Jack sitting five feet away, in what appeared to be the only seat of what was, undoubtedly, a very small spaceship.

He was staring at her incredulously, his hands resting in a fairly funny way on her handbag.

Tish wasn't the kind to be easily destabilised... After all, at only 23 years old she had confronted the misguided scientist Professor Lazarus after his failed experiment transformed him into a giant part-alien insect... and sometime later, during the Year that Never Was, she'd faced down the Master and his horde of horrors. Then, of course, there was always her family... her mother in particular.

This kind of stuff, once you managed to survive, was the kind that made you stronger.

So when she'd turned the corner of Osborne Street to find herself in the midst of a ruined city unlike anything she knew, she immediately concluded that she was going to need. But she had never given up; she'd forced herself to walk, to look, to hope until Jack's unlikely features had appeared before her blurring eyes ... Jack!

Jack had come to her, across the field of rubble, while she couldn't any longer bring herself to believe. She couldn't let herself.

Even still, she had called for him from the depths of her spirit, the dust of her soul... him and the Doctor, because she had long stopped relying on the almighty.

It had been a fool's errand to think anyone of them would actually hear her pleas, though. And yet here he was, looking just as bewildered. Just as disbelieving.

"Tish ...? Tish Jones?" he whispered with a strange croaking voice she hardly recognized.

"Jack, tell me you're real ..."

He came to retrieve her, eventually, sitting himself on the edge of the strange bed. She simply threw herself into his arms, trying to prove that the reality of him was exactly that... real, tested by all her sense, with all her senses. So she smelled him first. His scent spoke of musk and spicy-sweet gingerbread, special. Unique. And that uniqueness was most noticeable at the small of his neck, where the pheromones were the strongest, the most productive. Her tongue darted out, flicking over her lips like a hummingbird at a new flower, in case her nose had lied to her, or been deceived. She clutched at him, her fingers melting at the softness of his skin and the so-vital warmth of him, feeling the sheer, weighted presence of his reassuring strength...

"Hey hey! Easy... Easy Tish, shuuuut, easy..." Jack's soft voice whispered. He looked a bit uncomfortable, not knowing what to do with her strange display. He pulled the bed sheet to wrap her in, while keeping her tightly against him.

"I'm here Tish, it's me ..."

Tish couldn't help but cling to him, digging her nails deep into his skin as she repeated her mantra of, "Is that you Jack? Tell me you're real."

Tish! Look at me!"Jack ordered finally, his voice soft but firm.

She withdrew a little to look, but still, she couldn't... see him. Couldn't... believe.

"Not like that, Tish! Look at me... look for me."

So she closed her eyes, and searched for him.

Just like before, he was standing on their beach, waiting for her. She walked toward him. He gently took her hand in his and together they walked on the sand of an alien world, in that private place they used to hide during the Year, where the Master couldn't find them...

...

"Room service!" she heard jack's voice announce as she half-slept.

"Hmm?" Tish opened a lazy eye. She was still so ensconced in her peaceful dream. And it was warm, and comforting...

Jack! Jack was standing there, by her side with a tray in his hands. The air smelled of bacon and eggs and toast, a real English breakfast! But however she was still _there _on board this ridiculously small ship! It wasn't a dream.

"Where did you get all this from?" she asked, eyes darting to the food.

"Synthesizers!"

"Like in Star Trek?"

"Yep! If you want!"

"...?"

"This one is less capricious!"

"Convenient!"

"Essential. There's no way to store enough food for a long journey in so little a place."

"Indeed!" she agreed, looking about her once more, her mouth full of bacon.

"And what about clothes?" she asked, readjusting the sheet in which she was still wrapped.

"Pretty much the same; you get what you ask it for, barring any adjustments for size..."

"It makes sense," she answered, determined not to get unsettled by his nonchalance. "And do you happen to have toilets in your little palace?"

"Toilet, shower, all in one! It is the door right here," Jack replied, gesturing toward the only door.

"Fantastic!"

"Isn't it?"

"At least! The good point is I'm not going to lose myself walking hours in corridors," she conceded remembering what Martha had told her about the Tardis.

"No way, even trying hard," Jack replied playfully.

"May I?" she asked, indicating the little door.

"Of course, make yourself at home ... Oh, uh, just in case, there is also a synthesizer in there, if you need anything you can't find; Just ask for it. I've reprogrammed it to understand English."

Now, Jack seemed more destabilized than her, as if he'd suddenly became aware that his ship was really ridiculously small.

The hygiene cabin, was proportionately sized and comfortable once the retractable toilet and sink were, of course, retracted. Enjoying a shower was going to be very nice... but there was no water!

"Jack! There's no water!"

"Nope; Sonic shower!"

"Oh! I bet that's why the basin has that funny shape, then."

"Yep, among other things!"

It was a weird feeling. It was her first sonic shower. Instinctively she wanted to rub; she knew it would have been useless, but still... she was used to showers with water, after all. So she took it in stride, not rubbing, enjoying the sensation of being cleansed by sound waves screeching across her body at the ultrasonic level.

Then she noticed it.

It wasn't a bad feeling, exactly, just, more of an... absence. Something was missing, and for once, it felt like a good thing. She ran her hands over her body, checking for moles and burns, even old scars from the Year. Then she gasped, her breath catching in her throat only briefly as she considered her new self. All those things were gone, all her scars, all those burns... vanished. Everything that would have marked her, marred her, was gone.

"Jack, how long did I stay unconscious?" she asked as she got out of the shower.

"Two hours thirty four minutes ..."

"What happened to my skin? I was so burnt ... it was falling in tatters ..."

"Nanogenes! Very effective mini-medics!" he said, snapping his fingers.

Immediately, a cloud of glittering dust enveloped his hand.

"Wow, that's beautiful!"

"Nice and efficient!"

"Okay! I give you that; your ship is small but brilliant!"

"I like it too," he replied, patting the console gently.

"How far are we?" she asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Earth. How far are we from home?"

Jack took a renewed interest in the console, avoiding her gaze in the hopes of avoiding the answer.

"Don't tell me you don't know where we are?"

"Oh, I know exactly where we are: sector AB4 of the 9prime circle."

"Is that very far from Earth, in terms of duration I mean? Because I'm not sure distance would mean something to me..." she said.

"No, but time is the main issue. In terms of distance, we're not very far away at all."

"So?" she asked, fully aware that Jack was about to break some very bad news and didn't know how to go about it.

"Currently Tish, I'm looking for planets that can accommodate Human settlement ..."

"Did I miss something?"

"Something like nine centuries," he replied with a very sad smile.

"Oh!" she gulped sitting down on the bed edge.

She stayed like that, eyes fixing a point in space over Jack's shoulder, her brain unable to integrate the information. It was impossible! It had to be impossible... didn't it? Yet she'd just had a rough turn on an alien planet. And a rescue. And a sonic shower. Hell, she'd even had bacon and eggs with Jack Harkness in a tiny little ship!

Not only had she fallen through space, but also through time. And she was so very far away from everything she loved; her family, her home... her place in Time.

Everything was gone... except for Jack.

To be continued ...


	3. Chapter 3

**Title:** Tish's Years.

**Chapter 03:** Timey-Whiney sort of.

**Character, pairing:** Jack Harkness, Tish Jones.

**Fandom:** Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.

**Summary:** Jack rescued Tish who after falling through the rift had found herself on an abandoned planet centuries in the future.

**Beta:** tempusdominus10 and Orion Lyonesse.

...

"Where did you find it?"

"?"

"This ship."

"Hum, long story."

"Fantastic! I've got nothing else going on," Tish replied, settling herself cross-legged on the corner of the bed.

Tish was taking the situation not too badly. In fact, she was reacting rather well, trying to deal with this by keeping her mind busy as much as she could manage. The result, in a large part, was an unending flood of questions like_: What is it? How does it work_? _Where does it come from?_

For Jack, it was more difficult. He had chosen this lonely life, far from Human stupidity, only stopping by, from time to time, in a spaceport where he would enjoy a good slice of pie. He never stayed long. Since he'd left Earth, he'd just kept running from his own kind – not very difficult, as humans were just beginning to travel out of the solar system. And of course, out of all that, he'd lost the habit of using English.

"Jaaaack!" she called, pulling him out of his reverie.

"In fact, everything started with cannibals…"

"Cannibals?"

"Yep, cannibals. In fact, you wouldn't believe how many times there've been in my life when someone's wanted to eat me."

"I can't say why, but it doesn't surprise me that much," she said with greedy eyes.

He didn't seem to notice.

"So, I was hunted by a bunch of cannibals, like back then with your sister ... but without your sister, or the Doc…"

"But with cannibals."

"Yep. And they were pretty determined."

"So were you, I'm guessing?"

"Yes, rather, because it doesn't feel good to get eaten, trust me."

"I trust you," she replied, frowning, and not daring to ask for confirmation of what she would deduce.

"In short, I desperately wanted a place to hide and time to catch my breath and sort things out a bit... Did I tell you this was happening in an old, decrepit spaceport?"

"No. But now it's done. Terrestrial or satellite?"

"Humm?"

"Your spaceport? Can't you focus?"

"Oh, land. I had crashed, or at least the carrier on which I was travelling crashed, but obviously the other passengers did not survive."

"Indeed."

"So I was looking for a hideout. I went into this warehouse. It wasn't the first I tried, but each time they would find my track ... and then I bumped into it."

"This ship?"

"Yes, this one and none other. You can tell how amazed I was!"

"Well, from where I stand... A spaceship in a warehouse in a spaceport ...?" Tish summarised, not finding anything particularly amazing due to a long-cultivated knowledge of science fiction.

"Not _a_ ship, this ship, Tish. My Chula ship."

"Yeah, but before you found it, it wasn't yours. Does the fact you found it make you its owner, by the way?"

"No, Tish. You don't get the point: this ship is the one I arrived on Earth with in 1941."

"Did it continue on its own, without you?"

"No, it blew up."

"Blew up?"

"A German bomb. It was during the Blitz."

"You mean this precious little ship wouldn't withstand a primitive bomb?"

"Well, obviously not from inside."

"From inside? What the hell were you doing with a German bomb inside your ship?"

"I sort of took it as hostage," he explained with a grin.

"Very smart of you, I'm sure. There're times when I wonder if anything runs smoothly at home. What happened that you had to take a bomb _hostage_?"

"It's complicated. And that's another story, Rose's story."

"Rose?"

"Rose."

"... all right. Fair enough. Let's put Rose on standby for now. So, how can we be on board a ship destroyed in 1941?" Tish asked. She had already heard a lot from her sister about the Doctor's Rose; but for now she was more intrigued by the ship.

Jack scratched his head as he tried to figure out where to start.

"Jack, can this ship travel in time?"

He looked up, startled. "No! Of course not! At least, not yet..."

"What do you mean by _not yet_?"

"Well, when I left the Time Agency, I was sort of... spiralling downward, emotionally. Then I came across an ex-time cop who'd gone completely off, off the radar, off his rocker. We… sort of got involved. See, if he'd kept his Vortex Manipulator as I had, then he'd also stolen a timeship... which he had. That thing lasted us awhile, until it finally had to be scrapped. Of course, that should have limited our travel plans for a bit, but the dead ship's Manipulator was still working, so we commandeered another ship, plugged that in and cut out. The two types of tech were easily compatible. Piece of cake," Jack summarised.

"And this was it? This ship?"

"Actually, it _will_ be this ship."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Well, as you probably don't know because I didn't point it out, the civilization that built it was gone for millennia before I, erm, acquired it. That, and it had the same code, either way."

"The same code? Code for what?"

"The same unlock code. Because it was the same ship. Do you think people just park their ships somewhere, go for a drink and leave them open to anyone just passing by?"

"So, that's how you escaped the cannibals?"

"Yep. There was really no point in not trying, so I did and it worked. The ship was mine."

"I guess you changed the code once you got out, then?"

"I can't."

"Why? Is it stuck, like the Doctor's phone box thing?"

"No, but it _would_ generate a paradox!"

"How's that?"

"If I change the code now, it will necessarily be different."

"That seems obvious..."

"Yes, but just think about it. It can't be different, it has to be _that_ code, because otherwise how could I remember it for centuries?"

"So that code must have been special to you?"

"It happens to be my home world's absolute coordinates."

"Okay. So if I've got you right, some day you're going to steal us your own ship?"

"Very probably."

"That...doesn't seem to disturb you much at all..."

"The thing is, I can't remember at all where or when it happened or_ will_ happen."

"How's that?"

"We couldn't stop bouncing from one era to another, throughout all known and less known space. And to make it worse, most of the time we were running on hypervodka for practically all of it, nearly twenty four hours out of twenty four hours, if you take my meaning."

"And apart from hypervodka, did you have _other_ reasons to bounce or was it anything goes?"

"Well, to be truthful, we had the Time Agency on our heels because we were time-surfing illegally on a stolen ship while eking out a living as flagrant, unrepentant con-men."

"Great. So, because of this crap, we're bound to get this ship stolen, by you, in a relative future? Right."

"Yep, but in the same time...you know...I mean, when I say _where_ or _when_, it's on a very large scale. It could be tomorrow, could be today, could be a week from now...forty weeks...months... a millennia."

"Lord. You're truly a walking catastrophe, you know that?"

"That was the Doctor's opinion, too," he replied sadly.

There was a little painful flutter deep inside him. Jack returned his attention to his screen controls for awhile.

"I didn't mean that."

"I know. Me either. He used to say that a lot before..."

"What do you mean? What was he saying?"

"That I was a walking catastrophe. That I created more problems than I solved."

"Nothing to do with you being immortal, then?"

"No, just something that stuck with me," he replied with a grin.

"Did you ever see him again?"

"Who?"

"The Doctor, of course."

"Maybe..."

"Maybe? What does that mean? Is it yes or no?"

"I kind of had a glimpse of him once."

"But you didn't get to talk to him? Why?"

"Didn't get the time. He was gone before I'd the chance to make a move."

"Maybe he just didn't see you…" She tried to comfort him, knowing very well the Time Lord could sense Jack's presence a mile away.

"No way! He was staring straight at me. I'd even go so far as him being there for me, but then, and before I realized, puifff, he was gone!"

"That's a shame."

"Dunno, I was spinning a bad way at the time, but he did seem to me not to be fine either..."

"What about you here and now?"

"Hmm?"

"How do you get on? How are you doing now? You know, that sort of thing."

"I don't know, and I'm not even sure it's still relevant. And it doesn't matter anymore anyway."

"What does matter, Jack?"

He pondered for a moment, returning to his console's dials, tapping on one or two of them, before he finally admitted, "You being here. You being alive..." He paused, taking a deep breath to calm the pain he felt rising within him. "Because you're the only Human still alive that I'm willing to talk to."

A/N: After The Year That Never Was, Tish had been Jack's only confidant. And after what she herself had been through, she'd spent most of her time supporting and comforting the _Veterans from the End of the World_, as Martha had named them. And Jack had been one of them.

To be continued.


	4. Chapter 4

**Title:** Tish's Years.

**Chapter 03**: The Master's Shadow

**Character, pairing:** Jack Harkness, Tish Jones and the Master.

**Fandom:** Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.

**Summary:** Jack rescued Tish who after falling through the rift had found herself on an abandoned planet centuries in the future.

**Rating:** NC-17

**Warnings:** (Nothing explicit – but implicit sexual abuse scene) mention of past violence of torture.

**Beta:** Orion Lyonesse on ffnet or koram_dancer on LJ

...

The Master, the Valiant and a year long forgotten, except for them. A year they met, a year they learned about each other and about themselves. A year of struggle, a year of resistance upon which they'd built a strong companionship. They were old battlefield comrades; they were the last veterans of the End of the World, of the Year That Never Was. But nowadays, in that small ship lost somewhere in deep space, and cramped with Jack's pheromones, that year that had gotten them so close was standing between them as an impassable wall.

The Master's sickening laugh, Jack eyes closed and chained as he almost always was. He would always keep his eyes shut when it come to that, always, and Tish was grateful for it.

"Don't play shy, Tish, you naughty girl," the Master used to tease. "You like him, don't you? Doesn't he taste good, our Captain, better than anything you ever tried?"

Guards would remove what was left of Jacks shirt. Whatever the Master would do him, his skin would always grow back, as soft and smooth as the first day, and there was that smell, that so particular scent, so intoxicating it would drive her mad, get her to lose her self...

"Go ahead, be a good girl, Tish," the Master would mock. "Lick him, I want you to lick every inches of that skin. You know you like it, don't make me force it upon you..."

Soon she wouldn't be listening anymore, Jack's pheromones were so strong, so…Soon she wouldn't be here anymore, soon the Master could dispose of her body as he wanted, but her mind would be elsewhere, very far away and with Jack by her side.

_*Come on, Tish, over here, come to me, give me your hand...Let's walk away.*_

Jack would come for her, as he always did, and they would walk along on that beach, a very long and very peaceful beach on a faraway planet. She would focus on the two silver moons hanging upon the horizon ahead, on the shifting sand beneath her feet, on the friendly man walking by her side, and she could ignore what the Master would do with her empty body while she was away.

_*If he found out, he'd get mad…*_

_*He already is.*_

_*Jack, please be cautious.*_

_*I told you, Tish, that's a private line, No one can interfere, not the Master, not even the Doctor.*_

Jack would let her hand go just in time for the Master not to notice. However, disgusted and shocked, she would crawl back to roll herself against the nearest wall or vertical surface providing a feeling of relative security.

Jack would then face the Master defiantly alone, pushing and pushing him until he'd forget completely about her, until he got the Master to strangle him or kill him in any other way that would at least momentarily satisfy the mad Time Lord.

...

Tish woke up from her dream in Jack's little Chula ship. Jack had fallen asleep in his seat. He was so gorgeous when he was sleeping. To be truthful, he was always gorgeous, but it wasn't so much about his features than about his aura; Jack was generosity and self-denial hidden behind a cheeky mask of arrogance.

During that year Jack had taken more than was even humanly possible to imagine, and everyone knew it, everyone on board was aware of what was going on; some even felt concerned. But in the end it, it always came down to the same conclusion: Jack would come back, Jack would always come back; better Jack than anyone else...Even Jack and the Doctor seemed to agree, she couldn't...

Of course the Master enjoyed playing with anyone's concern or feelings towards others, and keeping them hidden was the best defence, but sometimes she couldn't help but think the Doctor was completely thoughtless about Jack.

However Jack would always choose the Time Lord's side, playing with the Master, teasing him, luring him into focusing on him.

As long as the Master was only playing with his body, Jack could take it. When it got to his mind though, it was more difficult, even if he wouldn't admit it. In the beginning, the Master had thrown a maddening tantrum because of Jack's mental resistance, but with time Jack's strength had weakened and keeping his mental barrier up was more and more difficult.

After Ianto's death, the Master finally got through Jack's mental walls, believing he would find the secret of his immortality. He did find it, at least what Jack knew, and it didn't satisfy him. Out of rage, he simply raped Jack's mind outright, leaving behind him an empty shell.

She was there. She'd watched. The Master always enjoyed an audience, especially when he knew the audience cared.

"Jack, he's gone," she told him, taking him gently in her arms. "Jack, please, look at me."

But Jack's eyes where empty, his being lost somewhere deep within. He was barely breathing, but he wasn't hurt, at least not physically.

_*Jack, where are you? Jack, its' me, it's Tish, please answe…-*_

But he didn't. She got in, for the first time she got in by herself. She found her way to the beach but it had been turned into an abandoned battlefield. She'd trudged through that wreck and ruin under a threatening sky, surrounded by frightening nightmares. She finally found him, rolled into a ball, hidden in a little strange, Victorian-like room, devoid of windows.

_*You shouldn't be here, it's not safe, he'll come back...*_

_*He's gone, Jack. Give me your hand…*_

Nothing was left of the man who used to challenge the Master on regular basis. Forgotten was the Doctor's and Martha's companion. He was nothing more than a terrified little boy, shivering in her arms. She stayed there, hugging him, whispering soft words.

_*You can't stay here, Tish, if he comes back, if he finds you here…*_

_*I won't go without you, Jack, no way,*_ she told him_. *And even if I wanted to, I couldn't found my way out.* _

_*You can do it, I know you can.*_

_*Maybe and maybe it's selfish, Jack, but we need you, I need you,*_ she'd said, ashamed of playing that card with him.

It worked. Jack took her hand and they walked together out of his wrecked mind. That terrible day, huddled in her arm, Jack cried for hours. She cuddled him like a baby, like he'd done so many times for her.

...

"Waking up?" she asked, coming out of the shower.

"Humm, I may have taken a nap..."

"Looks like it," she replied.

"Is it free?" he asked, gesturing for the hygiene cabin.

"I think so, didn't see anyone else around," she joked. "By the way, I wouldn't want to sound demanding, but you've no idea what I would give for a real shower, one with real water."

"I might be able to get you that, and even more," he replied from inside the cubicle.

"Really?"

"Tomorrow we'll make a stop by Sisko."

"Is it a star base or a planet?"

"A moon base, in fact. A sort of very big star base, orbiting around a gas planet. It's not well attended, but there are places a lot worse, even on Earth."

"And they have water showers on that moon base?"

"They've got a whole Hamman complex with sauna, Jacuzzi and so on. Better than in any Roman Imperator's dream, the most fantastic Turkish bath I ever tried."

"Wow, that sounds like fun."

"Did I mentioned, it's mixed?"

"Knowing you, I had already assumed."

Jack came out of the shower, a mischievous grin plastered across his lips, but was still keeping his mind locked, as he'd been doing from the first day. For him the Year That Never Was was far away and he'd had plenty of time to rebuild his walls and his mind. Of course, she knew why he'd left Earth, and how devastated he'd been by the Children affair and by Ianto Jones' second death.

"Do you think I could find a nice guy out there, preferably devoid of tentacles or too weird stuff?" she asked.

"There aren't many Humans around here, but you can find some humanoid. Perhaps some Gayates? Why? Are you in some kind of need?"

"You could say that," she laughed. "With you spreading pheromones all around us, even a nun would be in need, and I'm not one."

"I've known some nuns quite…"

"Stop it right now, Jack, or…"

"Or what?"

"Or I won't wait to see what's available on your damned moon base and simply ravish you."

"What made you think I would complain?" he laughed.

There was a little flutter, as if the Valiant's shadow had crossed the place, then it was gone; he dropped the masque and his mind walls, letting her to see the sorrow and loneliness hidden behind. Then, everything got simpler, even easy. The Master was long gone, and they were both in deep space but together.

To be continued


	5. Chapter 5

**Title:** Tish's Years.

**Chapter 04:** About Travelling with Jack

**Character, pairing:** Jack Harkness, Tish Jones.

**Fandom:** Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.

**Summary:** Jack rescued Tish who, after falling through the rift, had found herself on an abandoned planet centuries in the future.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Warnings:** none

**Beta:** Orion Lyonesse on ffnet or koram_dancer on LJ

...

She was standing in the middle of a mist of bubbles. Large and iridescent bubbles,they escaped from the opalescent liquid in which they were bathing up to the navel.

It was sort of magical!

Jack, at her side, wore nothing but a triumphant smile. He'd talked about Turkish baths, of Hammam, but the Kadac˝t'am to which he'd taken her was far beyond anything she'd ever imagined.

The pool in which they stood was about thirty feet in diameter and surrounded by five rows of large and welcoming bleachers where strange creatures were lazing in nude simplicity. The stands were interrupted six times to provide access to other poolrooms.

_*At eight__o'clock: the__Ka't˝am, which__could__be__likened to__ the antique __frigidarium__, even if its __temperature__is__ rather __comfortable, not cold, but__its texture__is__naturally__refreshing__, __somewhat__like mint__, __very__toned__, __very__refreshing__...__and__slightly__carbonated__, __somewhat__like__a soda__. __It may__tickle __a little,*_ and Jack shuddered just thinking about it.

It made her giggle and the bubbles around her just got crazy out of it.

_*__I'll try it __later__perhaps__. I really like __the__T'am__ here. It's warm and so __sweet__, it __smells__good and__then__all__theses bubbles__;__ I've__ never __seen__such big ones.*_

_*No problem__, __we can__stay__as__long__as__you__want__. But __just stay__well__connected__...__Oh__! __And__the__room__at twelve o'clock__, it's the __Dat'fuq and__is definitely not__for us.__Fantastic__for__some__reptilians__and__insectoids__but__definitely not__for__Humans.*_

_*Jack, where are you going like this?*_

_*At eleven o'clock, there is a Kagtur who seems interested and interesting. I'll see if we can find common ground.*_

Jack laid back in the water and swam quietly away from her, his shaft darting among the plumes hanging at the surface of the liquid like some sort of funny telescope; this guy was really incredible.

Tish tried to make out the Kagtur he'd talked about but without success. She was surrounded by a bunch of weird creatures, and to her eyes very few of them were anything like Humans, even those Jack referred as _humanoids__,_ and the place was attended by more than 43 different species.

A couple with beautiful blue and pink scales was looking at her with interest. Jar's, better to avoid, Jack had warned her before they'd docked at the moon base. "It's not that we aren't sexually compatible, but they'd rather have us cooked."

"Are you saying we might run into creatures who could want to eat us, while there?" she'd asked him.

"You'd better get used to the fact that most of the time and place around here, Humans are not at the top of the food chain."

"Great! Martha forgot to mention that."

"Your sister has knocked around less than I did, and, as far as I know, nearly got herself eaten once or twice."

"But if this place runs on tourism, don't they do anything to prevent this? Like, some kind of behaviour policy?" she asked. "I bet it's not very good for business if their customers get to eat each other, right?"

"That's pretty much it, behaviour policy: eating your neighbour is rude," Jack replied with a grin. "And trust me, you don't need to go back to Earth to find rude people; that's pretty common around here too."

Therefore Jack had given her a screed on species not to get too close to, and the _Jar's_ were definitely among those.

The weight of the Jar's' looks finally make her nervous and Tish decided to get a look at the Ka't˝am Jack had extolled. This meant leaving the protection of the semi-opaque liquid to pass through the other room while naked in front of hundreds of eyes watching her with curiosity...

Just don't think about it, you are as surprising to them as they are for you, she told herself.

In the Ka't˝am, the temperature was still pleasant, but the liquid was slightly thicker, slightly heavier, and was giving a feeling of invigorating freshness. The delightfully effervescent effect was kind of amazing.

She was not alone...of course.

But then, a creature whose gender was difficult to determine despite the nudity, but still one of those Jack would qualify as humanoid, watched her with interest tinged with shy curiosity.

Her face was rather Human-like. An androgynous body was surmounted by a face without nose, but with large emerald green eyes which contrasted with _her_ purple skin, _her_ thin mouth drew up in a gentle and engaging smile...

"Human?" the stranger asked in Common with a singing clear voice.

"Yes, and you?" Tish stuttered awkwardly putting into practice for the first time the three weeks of however very intensive courses she had taken with Jack.

"Fengeldubbitomîode'n."

"Oh!" Tish replied; that name wasn't on Jack's purple list, the one listing potentially dangerous aliens. She couldn't remember Jack mentioning that species either on his green list of friendly species they were likely to encounter in this region of space.

"May I?" Tish asked, holding out her hand toward the Fengeldubbitomîode'n's forearm; _her_ skin was intriguing, kind of gritty and as if it was _moving_!

"As much as I may," the creature replied, mimicking her gesture.

"Uh! Yes ...! Of course!"

With her fingertips, Tish touched the strange skin, and the grits retracted slightly at her contact, which led to a delighted and surprised smile on the face of her strange but gracious new friend.

When the creature gently answered her stroke, Tish replied with a mischievous smile; this was getting very interesting!

"Tish, my name is Tish," she said.

"TebiniCaluman'chen."

"Eh…Teb…?" She tried to repeat the strange sounds.

"Cal, shorter, Cal," Cal giggled gently at her new friend uneasiness.

Cal and Tish continued their exploration of each other with amused curiosity... Cal's grits were surprisingly mobile and reminded Tish of shrinking papillae and they were delightfully ticklish...

_*That's because she's a water flower,*_ Jack explained.

_*Where are you, you rascal? Are you spying on me?*_

_*Nope, just keeping in touch, making sure you're not getting into trouble. Have fun!*_

Cal led Tish in a strange aquatic ballet, coiling herself against her, and turning slowly but surely, expanding, blossoming, making herself more and more enveloping, her grits stretching into so many and so ticklish tentacles. Tish felt as if she was a clownfish playing with a sea anemone because Cal was now nothing like Human; a water flower, Jack had said. Great!

After her strange encounter was over, Tish joined with Jack in the megka't˝am, a sort of wet sand bath. It was one weird thing more; anyway everything was strange to her now, except Jack. Jack was still the same old Jack.

_*So?*_

_*You're very curious, mister,*_ she teased him. _*It was kind of interesting, as you might say.*_

He threw her a mischievous look, the kind to damn a saint...

*And you?* she asked.

_*Same!*_ he replied with a new grin. _*We should probably not stay in here too long.*_

_*Why's that?*_

_*Too irritating for our tender skins,* _he explained._ *What about shopping?*_

_*Shopping? That sounds fun.*_

Traveling with Jack was really something astonishing, and had nothing to do with what her sister had told her about her travels with the Doctor. Nope, nothing at all.

To be continued…


	6. Chapter 6

**Title:** Tish's Years.

**Chapter 05:** The Star Gardener

**Character, pairing:** Jack Harkness, Tish Jones.

**Fandom:** Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.

**Summary:** Jack rescued Tish who, after falling through the rift, had found herself on an abandoned planet centuries in the future. After a first stop on an alien base, Jack and Tish are on their way to resume their wandering trip, but what is the purpose?

**Rating:** PG-13

**Warnings:** none

**Beta:** Orion Lyonesse on ffnet .

"Okay, just tell me what all this is about," Tish asked.

"It's about finding planets where Humans could settle new colonies."

"Because they finally managed to ruin Earth, is that it?"

"Yep, pretty much," Jack replied.

"I won't say it surprises me. They were already far on the way to achieving it when I left," she noted, "everyone pointing at others for taking responsibility, instead of really doing something that would have been useful."

"That's a commonplace thing with politics, and it's the same anywhere you go: they only want to deal with short time projects. What really matters for them is only what can serve their popularity; the rest can be either delayed or ignored, until there is no way back," Jack commented sternly. "It started with weather disasters, but not the kind that would end all Human life as in catastrophe movies, no. Just countries hit more and more often by deadly cataclysms. Populations decimated by the thousands, that's the way it goes."

"But Martha said she'd been on Earth in a very far future-"

"Humans will be able to go back on Earth in the beginnings of fiftieth century. In my time, Earth will still be a protected area, but with the time, I know people will build new cities and in the end will ruin the planet once again until the Daleks will come to put a final end to it."

"The Daleks?" she jerked. "But if you know it, isn't it possible to prevent things from turning out that way?"

"I won't even try; that's how and when I became immortal," he said. "Not that I wouldn't want to give it up, being immortal, but that would sure cause an unworkable paradox."

"They will destroy the whole planet," she stated, remembering the attack she'd lived through.

"I will be the only survivor," he said, nodding. "Or more exactly, I was. Because I don't intend to show up, if I can avoid it."

"Okay, so how do you do whatever you're doing?" she asked, bringing him back to the starting point. In the end, their first subject was more fun than where they were now heading.

"I'm searching space for planets that can be quickly terra-formed. Things are getting pretty urgent and some countries on Earth have already been evacuated."

"Does it take long to terra-form a planet?"

"Depends on a lot of parameters. Some are more compatible than others," he explained. "The one I found you on is a very good one. It should be ready for settlement in about 15 years."

"I'm probably asking a very stupid question, but why not just terra-form Earth?"

"That's not so stupid, and the question will be debated when it will be completely evacuated."

"Because terra-forming with population on it might not be possible, I suspect," she suggested.

"Oh, it's possible," he said, nodding grimly. "But that would be called genocide."

"Okay, I get it, definitely not an option."

"Not at all," he joked.

"I really was very lucky," she stated.

"You can say that."

"Just to check I got this right; first you search for an uninhabited planet. Once you get one, you check there isn't some lost girl on it and if it's compatible or not. Then, if it's good, what do you do?"

"If there is absolutely no life form on it, and if it turns out to be good for terra-forming, I launch a transformation kit, I install a survey beacon, and then I wait a little while just to make sure things are doing fine and on their way. And when I'm done, I resume my search."

"So currently we're searching for the next one, right?"

"Yes, that's it. I intend to stay a bit longer in this sector; I've got two other potentially interesting planets to check. If they turn to be good, we'll sow them. After that I plan to go back and give a look at those that are about to be ready."

"How many have you got so far?"

"Three that are actually in settlement process, two that are about to be ready, and five in terra-forming process," he replied, not without some pride.

"Wow! So if I've got it right, if you'd got those three more that close, it would be just great?"

"Yes that would be great, three in the same sector and in so short time, that would be unprecedented."

"How long have you been doing this?"

"Nearly a century."

"A century? But you said it was taking about 15 years-"

"For a planet as good as the one I found you on, but babies like that one are the exception. Free, abandoned planets that are compatible are not exactly commonplace."

"So where are we heading right now?"

"We're on our way for M7C9, but taking the long way around. I want to make a detour to make a little check at M4C9P."

"Very nice names," she commented. "Very poetic."

"I know, but I name them from their spatial coordinates. They will be renamed by the people who will settle on them in the end, and that's pretty normal."

"So you found me on…?"

"On M4C9P, in AB4 sector of 9 prime dial."

"So we're going back there?"

"Oh yeah, because a baby like this one I'm not going let go wild."

"Okay, that would be a 15 day trip and after that to go to...?"

"M7C9? About 45 days..." he replied. "Why, is there someone expecting you somewhere?" he asked, without really thinking about it. "'xcuse me, that was stupid, even gross."

"You don't intend to ever go back on Earth, right?"

"Not if I can prevent it," he admitted. "What I'm doing here is very important; I can't just quit for a year."

"You're not the only one doing this, right?"

"Of course not. Torchwood sent two teams of their own with pretty good ships. I've been told they managed to find one planet, and there are some individuals, but they are looking only for themselves."

"But why do we need so many planets to evacuate just one?"

"I won't say I wasn't waiting for that one," he said, laughing. "Do you really think Humankind are just going hand in hand, just because they ruined their planet altogether? No, if some communities don't have prejudice problems, they are still not the majority."

"Tell me Human kind will finally grow up," she sighed.

"They will, more or less," he comforted her.

"So you're the one doing the biggest part."

"I've got the best ship, and I've got more practice in intergalactic travel."

"Right."

"We will come back to Sisko, and I'll take you to Balchan. I'm sure you're going to love the place. And think about this: no one has set foot on M7C9 for nearly a thousand years."

"Maybe. Those sound fun... But how can you stand to stay like this, locked in this little place for so long, especially you, as you don't get to sleep much?"

"I keep myself busy; I listen to communications I can lock into, searching for useful data..."

"That sounds great, indeed."

"If you prefer to stay on Sisko, I'm sure that could be arranged…"

"No, definitely not. I loved our stay, really, but no. I don't want to stay there on my own," she cut him short. "I'm sure I should probably use some time to study and practice Common and other stuff I need to learn. I'm sure there are a lot of things I should learn, right?"

"That's a good idea. I've got a lot of e-books, if you want to check the list, and I could teach you piloting..."

"You're kidding me."

"No, I'm serious. Would you like it?"

"Fly this ship? Really? You would let me?"

To be continued.


	7. Chapter 7

**Title:** Tish's Years.

**Chapter 06:** Fellow Travellers

**Character, pairing:** Jack Harkness, Tish Jones.

**Fandom:** Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.

**Plot:** Jack rescued Tish who, after falling through the rift, had found herself on an abandoned planet centuries in the future.

**Summary:** Jack and Tish have resumed their travelling, Jack promising Tish to teach her piloting the Chula ship.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Spoilers:** Doctor Who Planet of the dead, Torchwood: Martha's episodes.

**Warnings:** none

**Beta:** Orion Lyonesse on ffnet.

...

The Chula ship wasn't the Tardis; it was ridiculously small and didn't travel in time and moreover stubbornly refused to make coffee. Tish wasn't really surprised when Jack told her he could no longer stand the smell of it and deprogrammed the function.

By the way Jack had shut himself in, she concluded she had unwittingly hit a raw nerve: Ianto.

Even if after The Year That Never Was, when she and Jack spent unending nights talking over the phone, he never called his teammates by name. Of course she knew the Earth resistance leader was a _Jones_, but, when talking about his lover, Jack would only refer him as _He_ on those long nights. She'd learned his birth name from Martha. After coming back from Cardiff, if Martha wasn't telling Tish what she'd already known from Jack about the living-dead doctor, she talked a lot about Jack's boyfriend. About Ianto and his fantastic coffee.

Of course Martha didn't knew about the phone calls, about Ianto being the leader of the resistance during that terrible year, or about Ianto dying on the Valliant in Jack's arms. Martha still believed her sister was just a little girl fancying Jack, but Martha was wrong. Tish did not fancy Jack, she wasn't in love with him, either. What was between her and Jack was different. She didn't know how to call it but it was strong, stronger than whatever they'd been put through.

Tish was never jealous of Ianto, but she couldn't help seeing how his death still affected Jack. There was a hole right in the middle of his heart, a scar that didn't want healing. Jack was just trying to ignore it.

She could do with tea. The Chula ship was doing a pretty good tea.

...

They went back to M4C9p, but they didn't set foot on it.

"Too soon, or too late," Jack explained. "Depending on the point of view."

"I guess. That means it's doing fine?"

"Yep!"

They were content to make passes at low altitudes, registering various measures which, even with much goodwill on both sides, she persisted in not understanding even the beginning of it.

He gave her the ship's control for a long time so she could have fun. It was a lot more fun than flying in the vastness of interstellar space. More dangerous too, and Jack remained ready to resume control in case of a false move. Which, in short, meant she had to pilot sitting on his lap, with Jack's nose in the hollow of her shoulder. She wasn't going to complain for that.

In the end, cohabitation in restricted areas with Jack wasn't that hard. Most often, the ship was on autopilot, and they spent their day playing ... playing everything and anything. Jack had taken aboard an incredible amount of virtual games of all kinds. Thus there were 14 versions of checkers and more for chess. There were card games, dice games with incredible dice of all sorts. Board games, video games and hand games. Tongue and whole mouth games, because sex, for Jack, was just a game and because he was an incredible partner, creative and loving, he gradually managed to reconcile her with sex, because, truth to tell, since the Master Tish had retained some reservations about sex.

Jack also read a lot, but usually while she slept or studied, always remaining available to answer her questions.

...

They ultimately arrived on M7C9 where no one had set foot over a millennia. The planet was just sand, sand everywhere, nothing else.

"Sand, and still only sand to be seen," she commented, initiating a final pass while Jack completed readings at her side. This time he'd let her have total control over the ship but then, there was not much chance of crashing into an obstacle either.

"There's water, but deeply buried under the sand... and also some traces suspended in the atmosphere," he stated.

A very advanced and prosperous civilisation had once lived on that planet, Jack had been told, but there was no vestige of it now, absolutely no trace.

"What could possibly have happened?" she asked when they finally set foot on the deserted planet.

"Rumours, but no reliable testimony," he replied. "A whole civilisation vanished overnight-just like that."

A long shudder shivered down her spine, despite the vast desert that ran out of sight before her. There was something oppressive about the never-ending sand.

Jack was still collecting samples and making analyses.

"Come on, let's have a walk, a bit of exercise will do us good," he said, pulling her out of her reverie.

"Because we don't do enough exercise, perhaps?" she said, trying to joke, but this planet was giving her goosebumps. "Aren't you worried whatever happened, it could happen again?"

"I don't think so. The menace went on."

"Went on? And suppose it come back?" she asked, searching the horizon for threats.

"This was nothing less than a whole civilisation digested within hours."

"Is that what the rumours said?" Jack hadn't mentioned that before.

"No, that's what my analyses are saying," he corrected.

"How can that be?" she yelped.

Jack closed his eyes like if he was listening to music only he could hear.

"There are a lot of forms of life throughout the whole universe. Looks like some can do that," he replied sadly when he'd reopened his eyes. "They won't come back because there is nothing left for them to come for. Whatever did this was a highly voracious predator, devouring whole cities in less time than it takes to say it."

"But if you're right, they've gone on attack elsewhere?"

"Probably," he said, nodding. "And preferably highly technologically advanced and populated planets."

"That's awful! But why technologically advanced?"

"Because they have eaten up everything, to the last little piece of metal. This planet is nothing more than sterile dust now."

"Do you mean we can't sow it?"

"Oh, we could," he said, looking around the desolate landscape. "But it would take too long and I can't spend a kit on it, especially as it should get two, to be sure it would work."

Tish couldn't help but feel sorry for the planet, like they were abandoning it to its fate, but, at the same time, she was relieved to leave there.

"Let's go elsewhere, see if we can find a better place..." Jack suggested, dragging her gently into his arms before going back to their ship.

They went elsewhere, here and there, from MC5P9 to Z7A8, stopping by Sisko, Beta Gemma and even Balchan. During the next three years, Tish get to see a lot of things, but not one single Human, apart from her fellow traveller. Jack sometimes shared data with Torchwood, but they never met anyone from the Institute.

Since Jack and Tish spent much of their time together, even when it wasn't one above the other in the 3m3 cockpit, as soon as they stopped by a known port, they parted to enjoy a bit of space.

When on Balchan, as now, Tish had her own little routine: first a sea bath with Jack, but, as he quickly swam too far for her, she would come back to the shore alone, then share grilled octopus with Sil'k et Pob. After that she would go for a walk through the city, making a detour by the market.

It didn't take Tish long to spot the Dakonite following her. She knew that, for the slave dealer, she was a very tempting specimen, quite exotic. She also knew he wouldn't try anything before making sure she was alone and defenceless, and in any case he would do nothing in public.

She telepathically warned Jack but he wasn't immediately available to accompany her.

_*Don't panic; act naturally as if you haven't noticed him; don't let him drive you into a lonely place; and keep you tazer at the ready in your hand.* _he advised her.

Jack had found her a small pocket tazer that was very easy to hide. She always had it with her, and of course she would keep it at the ready, she wasn't stupid. Of course she would wait here in the marketplace full of passersby, especially as the Dakonite might not be alone. She wasn't even nervous, everything was fine...until a very familiar sound filled the air...

_*Jack! Jack! Can you hear it?*_

_*What?*_

_*The Tardis, I can hear the Tardis.*_

_*Tish, stay where you are! Tish, listen to me!*_

But she wasn't. The only thing she could hear was the familiar sound, a sound that, once you'd heard it, you'd recognize till the end of your life. The Tardis, the Doctor, a chance to get back home, or, at the very least, get some news. It was completely irrational and she knew it, but nothing could have stopped her.

_*Tish, you can't be sure it's the Doctor; it could be another Tardis. Tish, listen to me!*_

Before she'd realised it, Tish was alone in a narrow street with the Dakonite, flashing a predatory grin, waiting for her at the other end. And she couldn't go back, as a huge Baltag was coming in behind her.

The sound had paused, then started again; it was coming from a cross lane she hadn't seen. She ran for it. Still no Tardis. Jack's telelpathic message came again.

_*If it's not ours, you won't see her because of the perception filter, remember.*_

Jack was on his way and the lane was taking her back to the market, but the Dakonite wasn't giving up, so she sprinted ahead.

It was only after she tripped on it that Tish saw the bag, even though it was such a big fat travelling bag. She was lying down in the middle of the lane, defenceless, her tazer six foot away from her. The Dakonite and his accomplice swooped in to catch her.

Tish grabbed the bag and used it, in a nice upper cut, to hit the Dakonite, sending him into the Baltag's legs. While she had retrieved her tazer and managed to get back on her feet, she was now facing the two bullies armed only with a travelling bag and a tiny tazer.

Strangely they seemed to hesitate, and then cautiously started retreating.

_*Come to me, Tish, but backward. Don't turn your back on them.*_

Jack was there; he'd arrived by the market and was holding a disintegrator, far more dissuasive than her weapons. The two slave dealers didn't insist and vanished.

"So, that Tardis?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"Didn't see it, just heard."

"Probably not ours, then," Jack said, comforting her while dusting her clothes. "Nice bag, very East India Colonial Company, if you ask me."

"Isn't it? And it makes a very effective weapon, too."

"Where did it come from?"

"Absolutely no idea. Tripped over it."

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 8

**Title:** Tish's Years.

**Chapter 07:** Unwelcomed old fellows.

**Character, pairing:** Jack Harkness, Tish Jones.

**Fandom:** Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.

**Plot:** Jack rescued Tish who, after falling through the rift, had found herself on an abandoned planet centuries in the future.

**Summary:** Running from slave traders, Tish missed the Tardis but found a big fat bag. She wanted to keep it.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Warnings:** none

**Beta:** Orion Lyonesse on ffnet.

"Let's not stay here. These two arse holes are exactly the kind likely to tell authorities I'm carrying a prohibited weapon," Jack told her. "Don't tell me you're willing to keep this bag?"

"Sure I do. It saved the day! Well, after I tripped over it, of course."

"And what about the owner?" Jack asked with an inquiring eyebrow.

"Did you spot anyone?"

"Nope," Jack replied, running a quick scan on the bag. "And it looks like it's empty," he added.

"Case's closed! I like it, no one cares about it, so now it's mine," Tish stated proudly.

From time to time, Tish was showing a very opportunistic side, to Jack's sheer delight. She was refreshing and knew how to put balm on his wounds. Even if she looked like a fragile little girl, she cared for him as if he was a brother...an incestuous one. Of course they were nothing like brother and sister.

They didn't dally, just making a quick detour to the market. Anyhow, it was on their way back to the spaceport. Tish bought some fresh fruits, putting them in her new bag. Jack went off to pay for their stay at the harbour office, while she went directly on board the Chula ship. First thing, she took her purchases out of the bag to store them in the ship's tiny conservator. When she finished, it was full enough to explode. That bag must have more space inside than it looked.

She went to check it more carefully. It was just a big fat leather bag, very East India Colonial Company, as Jack had said back in the alley. It was pretty funny and quite as unexpected as the Dior perfume Jack had found the year before.

"What are you doing?" Jack asked as he nearly tripped over her while entering the ship.

"It's strange, but I can't see the bottom."

"Take a torch," Jack replied straddling over her and the bag to reach the piloting chair.

"I already got one," she answered, waving the little device above her head, still bowed half inside the bag. Jack frowned and came to have a look, bending over her back.

"Dark as hell in there," he commented. It was if the bag was swallowing the light. Jack moved Tish away and took her place, which failed to improve the view. He tried to search the bag, putting his arm deep inside and up to the shoulder, but he couldn't feel the bottom, or any edges either.

_*Manners, please.*_

Very quickly Jack removed his arm, and threw the bag a dark look as if it was about to bite him.

"What's the matter?" Tish asked.

"I don't know. It feels funny," Jack reply with a disturbed grin. "There might be something inside," he said, before running another scan, but it was empty.

He tried the torch but the light wasn't getting inside. This was getting creepy.

"We should probably abandon it here," Jack concluded.

"No way. It didn't bite you, did it? And your scan doesn't find anything either, right?"

"No, I mean yes, but..."

"That's not a rational answer. You put your hand deep inside it, and it got out intact, as did my fruits. I'm keeping my bag."

"Right, but it better stay closed."

_*Isn't that rude!*_

"What did you say?"

"Me? Nothing. I'll be in the shower," Tish replied, heading toward the cubicle. Jack gave the bag a last dark glance before pushing it under the bed.

Thereafter, they make a point of not going back to Balchan if they could avoid it. Anyway, their search for new available planets was dragging them away from that region of space, even if Jack would have preferred the new colonies not to be too far away from each other for obvious defence logistics. Ultimately they found themselves back at Balchan when they came to have one last look at M4C9p before sending out a go-signal for the first convoy, knowing it would take ten years for it to reach its destination.

As soon as they set foot on Balchan, Jack and Tish went back to their old routine. She was alone when she spotted the man, a Human, the first one she'd seen in years. He was not very tall but good looking, a blond dressed like rock star from the eighties. She was having a Kaol with yuts at a terrace cafe on the marketplace, enjoying the show the man was presenting. Pretty drunk, the man was making a fool of himself, flirting with a Gatack who looked quite annoyed.

What was bound to happen happened: a paw flung toward the man, but was efficiently stopped mid-course. The man was steadier than he looked. Definitely an arse hole, but probably less drunk than he pretended. Another paw, all claws, reached out to the rescue, stopped this time by another Human intervention. He couldn't be… the new Human was a lot taller, a real killer in looks, but definitely as drunk as his partner. That guy looked pretty much like a Jack she would have preferred not to ever have met.

"Hey!" she protested as the young man fell back over her table, taking it down.

"Sorry, ma'am," he said, getting back to his feet and to the fight.

God, he reeked of alcohol!

_*Jack, we have a problem.*_

_*hummm?*_

_*Jack!"_

_*What?*_

_* There are two morons trying to fuck a merry mess over here! And one of them looks a bit too much like you for my taste.*_

_*You're kidding. Tell me you're kidding.*_

_*Not at all.*_

_*What the other one looks like?*_

_*Like one of Freddy Mercury's musician, if you recall what I mean.*_

_*Shit.*_

_*Jac,k the militia is arriving*_

_* They won't get caught. Don't get in their way. I'll see you at Liet's inn.*_

_* Jack ...! *_

_* I need to go and get the terra-forming kits before they steal the ship.*_

Jack used the teleport to return on board the Chula ship, where he grabbed the precious sowing kits, stuffing them haphazardly into the bag.

_* Hey, careful! Unworthy father! *_

Jack would never have believed that bag could accommodate them all. It was bigger than it looked. Bigger in the inside? A Time-lord bag? Could it be?

_* Jack, they're fleeing towards the spaceport. Hurry up._ *

He couldn't use the teleport to leave; he had to leave it on board to be able to use it in 1941. He had to rush out and without anymore delay if he didn't want to come face to face with himself.

_* Shit, shit, shit! *_

_*Where are you?*_

_*On my way, but we're in a hell of a mess,*_ he said, watching from the corner of the street as his younger self was breaking into his own ship. Jack reached the inn just in time to watch with Tish as their little ship vanished in the sunset.

"What are we going to do?"

"We need another ship."

"How are we going to pay for it? You're not thinking about stealing one, right?"

"No, we really can't afford to take that risk," Jack replied, a bit discouraged. They needed to be able to have a break from time to time, and stealing a ship meant being constantly on the go. He couldn't do that, not with Tish.

"You managed to put all the kits in it?"

"Yep, I struggle a bit to close it. But in the end, it contains more than it looks."

Jack placed the bag on the bed of the room Tish had rented; she sat next to it and began to dig into its external pockets.

"Looking for something?"

"Just checking if the previous owner might have left any money, you never know!"

"You're incredible, really," he replied, amused by her optimism.

Tish looked one by one through all the pockets, but the only thing she found was a small card that looked like someone's business card. Two words were printed on it: _For Jack_.

"Jack ..." Tish said, handing him the paper with a trembling hand.

"Hmm?" he mumbled, intrigued by her reaction.

He took the paper; _Take good care of him_ was written on it. Jack glanced toward Tish, not understanding why these simple words had such an impact on her. She was watching him with a very disbelieving look. Jack looked back at the paper. Two names were now written strangely entwined upon it, with a third one rising from them. Asham & Tashee: Tashan.

"What is it?" Tish asked faintly.

"Psychic paper."

"Like the one the Doctor had?"

"Yep. And like the one I used to have when I met him." A big grin formed on his face. "Better than a credit card," he commented.

"So that was our Tardis, then."

"Might have been."

"But why?"

"Not a clue. And we've got more urgent issues to go over: we need a ship."

"One a bit more roomy, if possible," Tish added hopefully.

_*Good idea, I was starting to feel crowded inside that thing,*_ grumbled the creature lurking at the bottom the bag.

To be continued.


	9. Chapter 9

**Title:** Tish's Years.

**Chapter 08:** Who's there?.

**Character, pairing:** Jack Harkness/Tish Jones and someone new .

**Fandom:** Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.

**Plot:** Jack rescued Tish who, after falling through the rift, had found herself on an abandoned planet centuries in the future.

**Summary:** Young Jack and his accomplice, the young future Captain Hart, stole the Chula ship from Jack and Tish. They found themselves left alone with the travelling bag from the Tardis.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Warnings:** none

**Beta:** Orion Lyonesse on ffnet.

...

Even if having the psychic paper was good news, it wasn't going to solve all the mess they'd gotten into. Jack used it to pay for the harbour stay, even if he declined to file a report. He wasn't going to file a claim against himself for the ship robbery. The psychic paper would help to pay the Inn too, but there was no way to use it to buy a ship; this kind of article, here, was settled in cash, coins, dollars and cents...just a way of speaking, of course, because dollars wouldn't be very useful here either.

In addition, a ship that could effectively replace his little precious would not be so easy to find. Of course Jack recovered and endorsed the ship abandoned by the two thieves, and had begun to tear it down and sell off all its salvageable parts.

While they accumulated credits toward their next ship, Jack easily got himself hired as a mechanic at the spaceport maintenance department and Tish had found a job at a gardener shop.

"That guy is bartering with every passing ship! He would even go and pick up seeds in the trash, if necessary," Tish told Jack.

"Not very hygienic, if you ask me," Jack commented.

"Don't play silly. You do know what the best fertilizer is, right?" she countered, arching an eyebrow at him.

After three months, their scanty savings wouldn't have allowed them to pay for a trip ticket to Sisko. Jack was growing impatient, beginning to haunt dens and gamble. And much to Tish despair, he was losing night after night.

"To win big you must know how to lose!" he explained one morning as he'd came back almost as drunk as the young man who was the cause of all their troubles.

That very day, Tish had been very close to making a scene. But she thought better of it; she was already on the way to being late and she couldn't afford to lose her job. She would see to it when they were both cooler.

Returning to the inn after work, she knew exactly what she intended to tell Jack. She'd debated the question all day long with herself; Jack was a smart guy, she would only need to appeal to his common sense.

"He already left," Liet informed her as she passed by the inn office.

"Do you know where he went?"

"No, but the bullies he is hanging with are not good news. I'd say they are real scum, dangerous ones."

Tish went straight to bed without eating, angry and disgusted by the turn things were taking.

She was awakened at midnight by a frantic telepathic call.

_* Tish! Pick up our stuff, quick! Join me, I'm on the docks! *_

"What...?" she grumbled still half asleep.

_* Tish, move it! This is urgent! *_

_* What did you get yourself into? *_ she asked, a bit annoyed.

_* We're leaving, and right now. Take our stuff and meet me at the docks as soon as you can. *_

Tish cursed with every swear word she knew. Jack had better be clean or he was going to have to listen to her rant about it. She would make a scene to thrill even her mother. Still, she quickly collected their belongings and stuffed them in a bag. It didn't take long. Tish arrived to the docks with her two bags: the strange old-fashioned one with the sewing kits and the new one with the few things they'd buy since they arrived.

Jack was busy loading crates aboard a shuttle with the help of a...Dakonite!

"Nice little ass," the Dakonite commented, looking at her.

"Yep!" was Jack's only answer. _* Play it nice, like a devoted little girl, and trust me,*_ he told her.

"And she's a lot more than that," he added for the alien, with a nice slap on her buttocks as he showed her where to get into the shuttle. _* These guys are smugglers;, for last three nights, I've let them rack my ass off. Tonight, I decided it was time the tide turned, I won his ship, and I offered him a deal he couldn't refuse.*_

* And what kind of deal would that be? *

_* Later .* _

...

The shuttle took them to a very huge ship. The access hangar harboured eight other shuttles, each as big as the Chula ship.

They followed what looked like miles of dark corridors congested with crates of all sizes to get to their room. The room smelled musty and looked grimy.

"Charming," she said, making a face.

"Don't be so picky. Just settle down and don't move from here," he said, planting a kiss on her lips.

"Jack, I really don't trust these guys…"

"Don't worry, neither do I," he said as he left the room.

Tish made a quick tour of the room. The furniture was old, what there was of it. Disgusted, she removed the dirty sheets from the bed and replaced them with some that she'd found in a storage cabinet, though they didn't look much better. She checked the hygiene cabin, finding it in working order. It had the advantage of being sterile. Or at least it was supposed to be and looked like it.

Opening her bag, she pulled out a towel. She laid it on the bed before lying down upon it. Even the supposedly clean sheets weren't very appealing.

It didn't take long before the door opened...The Dakonite!

"What the hell!" she let out, already seeking for her taser, but it was on the table across the room. How stupid of you, she thought.

"I've been told you're good, according to your boyfriend." the alien whispered in a very disgusting way.

_*Jack! Jack?*_ she called out, moving slowly away on the bed toward the other side. The travelling bag sat on the floor by the bed. "Where is he?" she asked, grabbing the bag's handle firmly.

"I'm afraid there was some kind of accident. A deadly one," the alien laughed.

Contrary to what she had initially thought, the Dakonite, instead of going directly to it, threw himself on the bag and sent it toward the other end of the room.

"That trick won't do it again, my pretty," he said with an unsavoury grin.

It had to be the same Dakonite, Tish thought. She was disarmed and cornered. Jack was still unconscious…

And then everything went black.

...

When Tish woke up, she was alone, and fine.

_*Jack?*_ she called.

_*Hum?*_ He answered as if also just coming back.

_*Jack, where are you?*_

_*Not a clue, it's completely dark in here.*_

_*Should I guess things didn't turn out as you planned?* _she bantered.

_*To be honest? Yes,*he replied. _

She got up and went around the room, accessing her surroundings: the bag was lying open and the kits had rolled all over the floor.

_*Something funny happened…*_ she begun.

_*Shit!*_ Jack exclaimed, cutting her off mid-sentence.

_*What?*_

_*I'm stuck. But don't worry and wait where you are. These guys are real shit.*_

_*What a scoop! You're Dakonite bloke paid me a visit, as it happened,* she snorted._

_*Are you alright? Tish...?* Jack asked, suddenly really worried._

_*I am. But as for him—I really don't know.*_

_*How's that, you don't know?*_

_*He just vanished,* she said. *Oh! That's funny!*_

_*What's funny?* _

_*He threw the bag away and all the kits fell out.*_

_*Don't worry, they aren't very fragile.*_

_*That's not the deal, Jack. I can see the bottom of the bag, now.*_

_*Get out of that room! Right now, Tish! Hurry up!*_Jack panicked.

_*Cool down. Take it easy. I don't think whatever was in that bag intends to hurt me,*_ Tish replied. She put all the kits back in the bag, one by one. _*Jack, I didn't know there were so much of them. I put all the kits back in and there's still enough place to put as many more of them inside that bag. It is way bigger in the inside…*_

_*Yes, I got that part, when I stuffed them in it. Tish, whatever was in that bag has to be huge.*_

_*Something huge, sent by the Doctor. And it saved my life, Jack.*_

_*I don't think it was the Doctor.*_

_*You admitted it was our Tardis.*_

_*Our Tardis, not the Doctor. As it happen, the Doctor doesn't know my real name, the Tardis does.*_

_*It was only written: Jack.*_

_*For you, not for me.*_

_*What does it mean?*_

_*Nothing good for the Doctor, I'm afraid.*_

_*What...?* She couldn't make herself formulate the question._

_*It could mean the Tardis acted of her own...*_

_*Could he...be…*_

_*As everyone, but me, Tish,* _Jack replied.

_*But the Tardis loves you, she wouldn't send you something bad, right?*_

_*If the Doctor is dead, she won't survive him long, Tish. And she was already very old and fragile…*_

_*Why don't you just say she's senile, by the way!*_

_*Tish?* _Jack asked suspiciously.

_*Jack?* _Tish asked him back, surprised by his tone.

_*I think we've got an intruder on the line,*_ Jack replied.

_*How can that be? You said it was a private line. Even the Master did not…-*_ she stopped, realising how upsetting this could be.

_*It should be, that way,*_ Jack replied absently as if he was listening elsewhere.

_*Whoa! Did you really hear me?*_

_*Who's there?*_ Jack asked.

_*Who are you talking to, Jack?*_

_*My name is Tashan.*_

_*And you are...?*_

_*Your son.*_

_*My...son?* _

_*Your son? What the hell is going on, Jack?*_ Tish asked, completely at loss.

_*Okay, let's put the fun stuff aside, and get straight to the urgent parts: Tish is on her own, I'm trapped in the hell knows what, and a bunch of bad guys are running free.*_ Jack summarised.

_*The bad guys are gone and I think you're trapped in a crate,* Tashan answered._

_*The bad guys are gone? How's that, gone?* Jack asked._

_*Just gone*_

_*Gone where?*_

_*Does it really matter? They're gone, they ran off the ship.* _

_*Why would they do that?*_ Jack asked, completely at loss.

_*Because I scared them out their skin, and they abandoned the ship, taking five of the shuttles. The ship is now ours. Is that clear enough, or do you need more detail?*_

_*Jack, what is going on? Because just right now, you're frightening me,*_ Tish said.

_*I believe she doesn't hear me,*_ Tashan stated.

_*In fact, I don't know if my explanation is going to reassure you, Tish, but try this: It looks like I've got son I didn't even know of. He was hidden in the bag, don't ask me why or how, and, as for the more urgent thing: I'm trapped in a box.*_

_*Have you any idea, how many boxes there are on this ship, Jack?*_

_*A lot!*_

To be continued...


	10. Chapter 10

**Title:** Tish's Years.

**Chapter 09:** How can you be my son?

**Character, pairing:** Jack Harkness/Tish Jones and Tashan.

**Fandom:** Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.

**Plot:** Jack rescued Tish who, after falling through the rift, had found herself on an abandoned planet centuries in the future.

**Summary:** The creature from the bag rescued Tish from the Dakonite attack, but Jack is trapped somewhere in a box in the very large ship.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Warnings:** none

**Beta:** Orion Lyonesse on ffnet.

...

Finding Jack wasn't an easy task. Jack knew where he was in time and space. In short, he knew his absolute coordinates, but he couldn't tell where that was in the ship. Tashan could localise Jack's and Tish's minds, and where they were compared to each other, but as for the ship, he had some little trouble...

_* What is the problem with the ship? *_ Tish asked.

_* Well, it seems it's a problem of connection, compatibility, in short, he doesn't feel it completely, *_ Jack tried to explain but in fact he wasn't quite sure he'd got it right himself.

_* So what do I do, now? *_ she asked.

_* You move straight ahead of you so he can determine if you're going in the right direction or not, and we will correct if you're not.*_

_* This is going to take awhile, if you ask me. What do I do with the walls?*_

_* What's the problem? *_ Tashan asked.

_* The problem is, unlike you, Humans are constrained by matter. Tish can move only by using the elevators and hallways... *_

_* Yes, yes, of course, that might not help... With a little concentration, I should be able to take it into account and determine a path toward you... *_

_* Fantastic, *_ Jack said.

_* What is fantastic? *_ Tish asked.

_* He thinks he should be able to guide you to me. Through me, of course *_

_* Eeeh, what was that? *_ Tish protested

_* What? What's happening? Tish? *_

_* Something touched me, brushing against my shoulder, something cold.*_

_* It was me, a test ... If she does not mind, I can maybe see if I can get to guide her directly.*_

_* It was him, Tish, * Jack relayed. * He would like to try to guide you directly—I'm not sure how—and he asks for your permission.*_

_* That was my right hand ...and that my left shoulder. Tell him it's OK, Jack, I get it.*_

_* She says it's OK. *_

_* I already got that. But I warn you, it won't be easy. I don't know who's the crackpot who designed this ship, but the simplicity and beauty of clean lines was clearly not his thing, and added to that, half the lifts are broken.*_

_* Well, you'll have to deal with it, and preferably quickly, because I really don't like the vector the ship is taking. Unless you can correct it, Tashan? *_

_* What's wrong with this vector? * _Tish asked worriedly. She'd known for long time that Jack could always tell where he was, like he had a GPS in his head or something.

_* Well, it's taking us directly to a rift. It could be worse, but I rather not end up lost in time and space again.*_

_* Nope, I can't take control of the piloting, not the way this ship is designed, it's too archaic... * Tashan replied._

_* So you better hurry up! *_

_* I'll do what I can. How much time do we have? * Tish asked as she ran through the halls._

_* Hard to say, speed is not necessarily constant and same for the race, depending on whether it is on autopilot, or if it is just launched in...directorial race *_

_* What about Tashan. Can't he work out that bit?*_

_* Tashan? *_

_* Directorial race, the shields are raised, but obsolete, and there are no repulsive field... *_

_* Thanks, Tashan. We'll stop there for the good news, please,* Jack told his son.* Let's say we can count on three hours, taking in account that I'll need to reach the bridge and reschedule the race, * _Jack replied to Tish.

Tish kept running through corridors, waiting for Tashan's rustling to change direction. When she had to take an elevator, Tashan needed to give the deck number to Jack, and let him tell it to Tish. In the end, she was feeling like a spinning top.

_* He says there are many doors and elevators down,*_ Jack explained.

_* Okay. But how can you have a son with the Tardis? *_

_* Not the Tardis as a ship, but Tashée. She's an entity coupled with it.. *_ Jack explained.

_* Tied would be the right word, *_ Tashan commented.

_* The Tardis' heart, as the Doc used to say. *_

_* You mean when we were on board the Valiant, there was a similar creature around there with us?*_

_* Yep.*_

_* But if so, why didn't she ...I don't know - kind of interfere in any way whatsoever?*_ Tish asked.

_*Tashee could do nothing; the Time Lords literally tied these creatures to their Tardis. Tashee is trapped and dependent on the Tardis, that's why in the Times Lords' minds they are one... *_

_* Yep, as good a way any to deny that they've enslaved one of the most advanced intelligent life forms, *_ Tashan added for Jack.

_* But why? *_ Tish asked.

_* Because these creatures are from the Time Vortex, they are part of it, linked to it,*_ Jack replied.

_* Because the Time Lords, as they proclaimed themselves, had never mastered time travel by themselves, but they found a way to trap our kind,*_ Tashan explain.

_* And the bag? *_ Jack asked.

_* Yep, it's the same technology, except the bag was never designed to hold one of us, it's just a travel bag *_ Tashan replied.

_* But where were you all this time? And the Doctor, does he know? And then as Tish said, how is it possible? I mean, I know the Doc has always been a little jealous of the affection your mother showed me, but still, I don't understand how I can be your father.*_

_* Let's look at this in order, if you will, *_ Tashan started. _* I was born from the symbiosis caused by Rose at the Game station. When you died and she wanted to revive you with my mother's help. In fact, I've got three parents, you, Rose and Tashee, or if it's easier for you to grasp: you and the Badwolf. *_

_* Awesome! *_ Jack said flabbergasted.

_* What? *_ Tish asked.

_* I think I'll summarize for you when he's finished, because he is just beginning his story and it's getting—well, complicated.*_

_* The Doctor was very upset by what Tashée and Rose had done. He separated them and broke the symbiosis at the cost of his life. Tashee took advantage of the difficulty of the regeneration to hide me in the bag. The Doctor was never to know about me.*_

_* Don't tell me you were in that bag all this time? *_

_* What time are you talking about, time traveller? *_ Tashan noted.

_* Yes, yes, of course... How old are you? *_

_* I am much older than you, and yet I'm not really an adult yet... *_

_* In short, you're a rebellious teenager. Still, you didn't say your age,*_ Jack concluded.

_* It's a little complicated, just let's say it's counted in millennia... *_

_* Not in the bag, I hope! *_

_* No, not in the bag. Whenever the Doctor turned his back, I used to come out of the bag ... And then come the day at the Medusa Cascade, with the Daleks and Davros.*_

_* Gosh! That's true. You must have been there too,*_ Jack gasped, remembering the Tardis and Donna thrown into the pit of fire.

_* My mother was tied to the Tardis and even though she couldn't survive it, she forced me to run away, sending me into the vortex... But I was a child, and I got lost.*_

_* I'm sorry,*_ Jack replied. He'd come a long way to imagine he could have a son trapped in there, or even having a son at all. Still, the idea of having a son was growing in his mind. He had a son, a son from Tashee...and Rose: Wow!

_* I travelled awhile before finding my mother again, then I spent some time with her in the Tardis, but the bag was beginning to get a bite confining and she was afraid the Doctor would found out about me.*_

_* So she found a way to give Tish the bag. *_

_* Yep! *_

_* But why didn't you get out of it earlier? *_

_* Because your ship was ridiculously small, of course. *_

_* Are you're saying this bag is bigger than my Chula ship? *_

_* Five of them could be stored in that bag. In it there was at least enough room for me to stretch a bit.*_

_* I would have thought only Gallifreyan technology could restrain you.*_

_* Oh. The Chula ship won't have been a restraint of any kind, and that was the main problem. I would have overflown it with the potential risk of interfering with your external sensors.*_

At last, Tish found Jack. She had to use a hoist to remove the two boxes placed on top of him before she could release him from the storage box in which he was confined.

"Looks like they intended to sell you for your meat," she said disgustedly when she realised what kind of storage container he was in.

"There're no small profits and there are amateurs, I'll remind you," Jack commented.

"Yep. But I can't get used to it."

They sprinted to the bridge, where Tish collapsed from fatigue while Jack went to work correcting the ship's race.

"Why does it take so long?" she finally asked.

"Uh, no! It's good! I'm just checking that flying pan's status. Making sure we're not running into other unpleasant surprises. Get a rest."

"I'm hungry and I feel dizzy."

"I think the kitchen is not very far."

"Well, that's good news. Let's hope there is something comestible for us."

To be continued.


	11. Chapter 11

**Title:** Tish's Years.

**Chapter 10:** A flying garbage

**Character, pairing:** Jack Harkness/Tish Jones and Tashan.

**Fandom:** Torchwood/Doctor Who Universe.

**Plot:** Jack rescued Tish who, after falling through the rift, had found herself on an abandoned planet centuries in the future.

**Summary of previous chapter:** Tashan, the creature from the bag, helped Tish on finding Jack, while explaining who he is.

**Rating:** PG-13

**Warnings:** none

**Beta:** Orion Lyonesse on ffnet.

...

Jack immediately headed the ship on a course for M4C9p; they had a job to do and they were late. It was a priority job, the future of human kind depended on it.

_* I guess you never wondered how it would have happened if you weren't there to do it? *_ Tashan pointed out.

"I stopped pondering such questions a long time ago... Here I am available and I do it. It only makes one temporal paradox more in my life... I must warn you, though, you'd better get used to."

_* Ouch, and you'd call me a rebellious teenager? *_

"It must be done, no one can do it as well as I do it. And clearly it's not disturbing the flow of time."

_*How do you know? Can you feel it?*_

"Yes!"

_* Doesn't that bother you a little? *_

"I don't have time to waste pondering it."

_*Or should you rather say you don't feel like it, right?*_

"Do you intend to lecture me?"

_* No, I'm just trying to get to know you... *_

"Yes, ok, sorry..." Jack apologized.

They were in the kitchen. Tish was staring at him. It was very disturbing to only have one side of the conversation. Jack was doing an inventory of the items in the kitchen, while she was trying to clean a small area in order to eat.

"It's really filthy," she complained.

"Don't get upset with it. As soon as we get to Sisko, I put it on sale."

"Do they have a junkyard on Sisko?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Who's going to buy such garbage?"

_* I like it there. This ship is spacious, comfortable... *_

"And archaic and probably stolen. It's a true flying pan and in addition, it stinks, it's filthy, and it's cluttered with a jumble of contraband. I'm quite surprised the hold isn't filled to the brim with slaves," Jack listed. Then, with the doubt risen, he asked: "Tashan, could you confirm we are the only living beings on board?"

_*We are, except for some pests and parasites. of course.*_

"Uh, what kind of vermin?" Jack asked, watching Tish from the corner of his eye. His question had stopped her dead in her scrubbing.

_* Mainly gaduks, Fuissé and also gdusk.*_

"Great! Nothing dramatic," Jack translated, and he added, "For dinner I should be able to make you a gratin of catania with some fish."

"I'll take it," Tish replied.

Jack cooked like a pro. Tish kept watching and cleaning. Then they ate their first meal since coming on board, discussing whether they should keep the ship or not.

"It's way too big. Just to build a living space would take a century, and I don't have a century," Tish objected.

Jack gave her a puzzled look and suddenly he realized they'd never gotten around to talking about the fact she was second-generation. It seemed so obvious to him. He'd forgotten being from twenty-first century, it wasn't for Tish. He had no idea why Tish was second generation, but he knew she was. At least since he'd found out the day he rescued her on the Chula ship.

"Uh, actually, you can count on three whole centuries, even a bit more."

"What the hell?"

"I might have forgotten to mention to you that you were second-generation..."

"How can that be?"

"Well, I don't know... In fact, you must have been born like this. That would explain your strong level in telepathy. It's already exceptionally high for second-generation Human."

"But you said the mutation began during the XXIII century."

"To be completely honest, it was noted in that time. It started in Europe and spread through the whole Earth... Inevitably some first cases appeared much earlier."

_* Yep, and oddly enough to mention it, the first case happen in the XIX century, go and find out why...*_

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

_*Nothing at all. I would never dare. I'm only bringing precision to your explanation... Still, that would only make one paradox more, right? *_

Jack raised a doubtful eyebrow while Tish was processing the implications of what Jack had just told her. Her life expectancy was now multiplied by three.

While the ship was too large a trash bin, etc and etc., they couldn't afford to waste more time trying to sell it. Even more, selling it in a regular port might raise questions and obviously, they couldn't take the risk and time go to the Garp Constellation, the only place where they were likely to find a buyer not too particular.

During the journey to M4C9p, they got to work. Jack himself would focus on the navigation and safety problems, as well as anything requiring mechanical or electronic knowledge. Tish took on the construction of a living space, which they decided to restrict to two levels. They chose the bedroom facing the lift. It was the only one with a working water shower. She made a laundry in one of the many small rooms opening onto the outside of the corridor. Anyway, after recovering what was recoverable in order to arrange a cosy little corner of their own, she piled up all that remained and locked all unused rooms.

The kitchen required an extended and joint effort. Not only did it require cleaning up, but in addition they had to do a drastic sorting of the food. Some of it was to be used to capture the gaduks. Besides that, half of the robots were acting strangely or were just out of order. And there was no synthesizer: they would have to cook.

Jack made a lot of expeditions into the _wild_ part of the ship, regularly bringing back treasures, mostly furniture, sometimes clothes, a red vibrator, a juke box full of vinyls, a bowl and stumps, two beautiful rugs, a pair of natural sponges...

This day, he triumphantly returned with a box almost as big as himself.

"You never thought about taking the bag with you when you go hunting down there?" Tish suggested.

"Uh, yes, that's a good idea, I should do that," he concluded crestfallen.

"So what did you run into this time?"

"Some surfacers, a whole team of surfacers, in fact," he replied with that mischievous face he was showing more and more often.

He took a half-sphere out of the box and placed down on the floor.

"Uh, yes, very nice," Tish said.

Jack looked disappointed. He picked the thingy up and turned it upside down.

"It must be out of battery..."

"If you're finished here, could you come in the kitchen and check the rehydration machine? It's going fuzzy again."

"Okay, let's see to that first," Jack said, reluctantly leaving his gadgets in the middle of the large room connecting to all main elevators.

When they went back to go to their rooms, the strange items were scattered everywhere.

"What the hell happened? Who did that?" Tish asked.

Jack pointed at the floor; it had literally changed of colour. From dark brown, it had turned into a creamy red.

"Surfacer! As its name suggests, it's a robot eating surfaces' grime," Jack explained.

"Great. At least now I understand why I couldn't clean this out, you've seen this film? Do those pretties work on the walls?"

"Yep, and even the ceiling," Jack said, pointing to some small machines already working above their heads.

"Good. Nice catch Captain," she grinned pulling him by his sleeve to remind him of their destination.

"At your service, ma'am."

If while on the Chula ship they spent most of their time having fun, since they came on board this ship they not only had no time to play, but even having sex was hard : There was always something to repair getting in their way.

But for now, Tish had decided the ship could fall into pieces and she wouldn't care. When she said as much, it got Jack laughing. It was good to hear him laugh. He was unlike any man she'd ever met: He combined a strange mix of strength and virility with something of a mischievous kid, and on top of that added in an almost feminine sensuality. It was a weird and wonderful cocktail and it certainly made him irresistible. Tish loved playing with him and she decided to spend the night playing until she collapsed.

"We could try that red toy of yours?" she suggested.

"I'm your willing slave, Ma'am," he replied, eyes sparkling with mischief.

For Jack, sex was only about having fun and giving your partner as much pleasure as possible. Any and all means were good if they met the desires of the other: It wasn't more complicated than that. And it opened an endless field of possibilities...

After the Valliant, considering what he'd been through, UNIT had suggested that Jack would need to be followed around by a shrink! A shrink from the army dealing with someone like Jack. The idea had already amused Tish back then, and it amused her even more now.

To be continued.


End file.
